An attorney for the company applying to build data centers in the Upcounty fears a moratorium on them, floated earlier this year, could doom its plans.

The lawyer, who represents Atmosphere Data Centers, spoke at a County Council hearing Tuesday at which several environmental groups and a handful of county residents called for a moratorium.

They said the county needs time to learn more about how data centers will affect the environment and the residents who would live near them.

Data centers can generate significant tax revenue, and demand for them is soaring. But they can also disrupt neighbors with near-constant humming and require significant water for cooling and energy to operate.

Local officials haven’t taken formal steps toward a moratorium on data centers, industrial complexes that process and distribute massive amounts of digital information.

But County Executive Marc Elrich raised eyebrows in early February when he said he was considering asking the council for a six-month pause, in part to prevent companies from sprinting through the approval process before the county enacts stricter regulations.

Atmosphere Data Centers, a California-based company, is planning to build at the site of a decommissioned coal-fired power plant in Dickerson, next to the Agricultural Reserve’s boundary along the Potomac River.

Elrich previously said any moratorium should also temporarily halt permitting and approvals that remain for the project. An Atmosphere attorney pushed back on Tuesday.

“A moratorium would significantly delay, and quite possibly derail, the project,” said the attorney, Scott Wallace, adding that a pause would not be “appropriate or necessary.”

Elrich caught his own staff members off guard after revealing to a reporter in early February that he might push for a moratorium.

He provided some details during a media call the following day about what the pause would entail, but in the three weeks since, hasn’t sent a request to the County Council, which would have the final say.

The county executive had said he wouldn’t move ahead with a proposal until speaking with council members, and council President Natali Fani-González has made clear that she won’t support a moratorium.

A member of the county executive’s team, climate change officer Sarah Kogel-Smucker, said the possibility of a moratorium is still on the table. But the county executive has placed the onus on council members.

“If the council needs more time to develop policy, the county executive’s open to an up-to-six-month moratorium,” Kogel-Smucker said.

Data center restrictions

Though the moratorium came up repeatedly on Tuesday, it was not part of either of two data center bills on the hearing’s agenda.

One, sponsored by Fani-González, would determine where data centers can be built and what land-use regulations they must follow.

Another, from Evan Glass — one of three council members running to succeed Elrich — would form a work group to study potential benefits and harms from data centers.

Kelly Schulz, CEO of the Maryland Tech Council, sought to assuage concerns about data centers.

Schulz said they create jobs for electricians, equipment operators, and HVAC and control technicians, among others. She also touted them as revenue generators.

In Loudoun County, she said, officials have reported receiving $26 in tax revenue for every $1 in public services they provide to data centers.

But some at the hearing said they worried that data centers would strain the electrical grid and pollute the Potomac River and the air. The centers rely on water-based cooling systems and, often, diesel generators in case of power outages.

“We’re not saying, ‘Don’t build any data centers,’” said Karen Metchis, a member of Climate Coalition Montgomery County. “We’re asking for transparency and time to fully consider.”